SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume II [Ch. 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 - Concluding part]

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Dear Sai brothers and sisters of the worldwide '' family,

In view of the ensuing glorious event of the 80th Birthday of the Divine Lord

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, we propose posting of all the Divine Messages

titled as ‘Sathya Sai Speaks’ for the benefit of our members and all the Sai

devotees the world over. We request you to pass on/forward/spread these Divine

messages to your Sai circle so that they also derive spiritual benefits and

bliss from them. These Divine Messages are not only for Sai devotees, they are

for the entire HUMANITY. Lord Krishna taught humanity the ways and means of

salvation for mankind in ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in Dwapara Yuga. ‘Sathya Sai speaks’

is the Bhagavad Gita of Kali Yuga. - With Sai love, Sai brothers -

’’

***

Om Sri Sai Ram

SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume II [Ch. 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 - Concluding part]

48. OPEN YOUR EYES

UPPULUURI Ganapathi Shastri has a title that very few scholars have. He is

called Aamnaayaartha Vaachaspathi ---the Master Expounder of the Meaning of the

Vedas. I had permitted him to speak for as long as he liked; indeed, I had

encouraged him to make a long speech for just after this he is opening the Veda

Sasthra Paatasaala---an institution that is dear to his heart when established

anywhere, but dearer to him because it is established here, in the Prashanthi

Nilayam. In fact, he sees in it an important step in My Plan of Vedic revival.

But he was so over-powered by Ananda that he could not proceed with his speech

even for a few minutes. As he said, he spoke even those few words just to

express his debt to the Vedas. It is not only his debt but the debt of all

humanity. The Vedas have shaped India and

India shaped, is shaping, and will shape, the rest of the world.

The Vedas are without beginning or end; they are eternal messages caught by

developed consciousnesses in the silence of meditation. Loyalty to the Vedas

has faded often in the past also and so the present 'decline' which Ganapathi

Shastri deplored is just a passing phase. Dhuurvaasa was a reputed Vedic

scholar; he had the music of the Saama Veda on his tongue and the cinders of

anger in his eye; a strange combination, indeed. Seeing this absurdity,

Saraswathi, the Goddess of Learning and Liberation, laughed in derision. The

sage was stung to the quick; he threw a curse on Her and she was born on earth

as the daughter of Aathreya. There was a brother too, a feeble minded chap

incapable, in spite of the efforts of the skilled teachers, of even pronouncing

the Veda aright. He was beaten with a rod, but that only

made him weep helplessly. Saraswathi was moved with great pity. She intervened

and saved him from physical torture. She taught him the four Vedas and the six

Sasthras and he became a great Master.

Vedhas are in need of revival again

Meanwhile, the Veda had faded from human memory and, as a result, famine stalked

the land. Rishis were reduced to skeletons. They yearned for the Veda, for that

was the sustenance on which they lived. Saaraswatha, the brother of Saraswathi,

prayed to Chandra (the Moon). She made the each sprout forth-edible plants

(Saakha), on which the Rishis decided to live. Saaraswatha taught them the

sixty different sections of the Vedas but so thick was the fog that had

descended on the Vedas those cynical critics confounded the sages who learnt

the Vedas from him. Narada had to assure them that what they had learnt was the

genuine Veda itself, but even he could not remove the main of doubt. They

jointly approached Brahma. He said, "You were all able to get this Vision of Me

as a result of your Vedic

study; you can have yourself become Brahma when you practice what you have

studied." That was how Saaraswatha Maharshi revived the Vedas once in the past.

Reasons for the present sorrow and suffering

Now again the Vedas are in need of revival, of promotion. Someone has to prevent

the axe from reaching its mots, the goats eating the sprouts. Do not be too

conceited, feeling that the Avatar has come for you particularly. I have come

for the sake of Dharma. And, how is the avatar to guard Dharma? Well,

Vedhokhilo Dharma Moolam---"The Vedas are the root of Dharma." When the Vedas

remain unharmed, that is to say, when the Vedic scholars are unharmed, the Veda

will remain ever-green in the heart of man. That is the real Dharma-sthaapana.

You may ask, "Well. The Lord has incarnated. Then why should the world be torn

by strife and stricken with sorrow?" Why, even when Lord Krishna was here,

there was war and wickedness, strife and sorrow. The husk will have to be

pulled out, the pure saved always from the impure. The present suffering is

mainly due to the lapses in discipline among the professed followers of the

Vedic path, their disregard for the morality laid down in the Sasthras and

their absence of faith in the ancient scriptures. What use can a blind man make

of a lamp, however bright it may be? You may ask why Pundits and Vedic scholars

are passing through hard times now? They are mostly hungry, ill clad and

homeless; that being the reason why no one comes forward to join Vedic schools?

Paatasaalaas are becoming defunct. But I want to tell

you that the Pundits and Sasthras have come to this pass because they have

themselves lost faith in the Vedas They are like the proverbial cat which is

loyal to two homes and is denied food and comfort in either. The Pundits have

one eye on secular matters and secular studies and another on the spiritual.

Let them be fixed in that faith, faith in the Vedas. Then the Veda will keep

them happy. Because if the Veda cannot make a man happy, what else can? Like

the hotel-keeper who goes to a druggist for a pill when he gets a headache,

while that same druggist goes to the same hotel for a cup of coffee when he

gets a headache, the West comes to the East for mental peace and the East is

enamored of the West for what it considers necessary for mental peace!

Story of unshakable faith of a devotee

Let me tell you an incident, which happened while in the previous body at

Shirdi. There was a lady from Pahalgaon, a simple illiterate devotee. She

stored water in her kitchen in three clean, brightly polished brass pots from

three separate wells and she had named the pots---Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi.

She always referred to them by those names. Whenever any thirsty wayfarer called

at her door, she mixed water from all three and offered it to the person as

Triveni Theertha (water from three rivers). Neighbors used to laugh at her

faith, but her belief that the three wells were connected underground with the

three rivers that joined at Prayag, was unshakable.

Her husband started on a pilgrimage to Kasi. His mother, while blessing him on

his departure, put on his finger her own gold ring and directed him to take

good care of it, for it would be a talisman for him. When he was taking the

ceremonial bath at the Manikarnika Ghat, the ring slipped into the waters and

could not be retrieved. When he returned and related this story, he said,

"Ganga waned it; she took it," just to console his mother. When the wife heard

this, she said, "No, no! Mother Ganga will not hanker after the property of a

poor old lady. She will accept only what is offered out of love. She will give

us back the ring, I am sure. I shall ask Ganga; she is in our kitchen." So

saying, she went in and with folded hands, she prayed before the particular pot

named by her as Ganga. Putting her hand in she searched the bottom and sure

enough, she got

the ring back! She had come to Dwarakamayi with her husband and mother-in- law.

It is faith that matters; the form and the name on which it is fixed do not

matter. For all names are His; all forms are His.

The four-fold Mission of Sai

Faith can grow only on the soil of Dharma, with the fertile sub-soil of Veda.

That is why the Paatasaala (Vedic School) is started here today. I announced

this in October and it is being started in November. With Me, the resolution

and the realisation coincide in time; there is no time-lag. You may say that

only twenty boys have joined now. When a cabinet of twelve administers a huge

country, this band of students is enough for the work I have in view. My task

is to open your eyes to the Glory of the Vedas and to convince you that the

Vedic injunctions, when put into practice, will yield the results promised. My

task is to make you aware of your errors and the loss you are incurring; not

only you who are here just now, but all the people of India and even the world.

This Paatasaala will grow into a University, establishing branches wherever

there are other types of Universities now. It will afford cool green shade for

all. My Prema towards the Veda is equaled only by My Prema towards Humanity. My

Mission, remember, is just fourfold: Veda poshana, Vidwath poshana, (fostering

the Vedas and Vedic Scholars), Dharma rakshana and Bhakta rakshana (Protection

of virtue and devotees). Spreading My Grace and My Power along these four

directions, I establish Myself in the Centre. These boys will grow into strong

straight Pillars of the Sanathana Dharma---the Ancient Wisdom, the Eternal

Path; they will be the leaders and guides of this land in the days to come.

Parents who have sent them to this Paatasaala have every reason to be happy,

for these boys

will be Gems spreading Vedic splendor everywhere, disseminating Shaasthraic

learning everywhere. I shall care for them as the apple of My eye, more than

any mother. They will always have My Blessings.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 23-11-1962

Fear is the biggest cause for illness. When you have slight temperature, you

start imagining that it is the beginning of some serious fever. You say to

yourself someone whom you knew had also a slight increase of temperature, which

later became serious and led to complications and so, you become more prone to

illness than formerly. Think rather of the instances where fever was prevented

or overcome; think of the Grace of the Lord that restores and saves. - Sathya

Sai Baba

49. PLANNING THE CURRICULUM

MINISTER Chenna Reddy 'opened' the Puttaparthi School Building an hour ago but

the meeting in connection with that happy event is being held here now, because

the village has no place to accommodate even a tenth of this vast gathering of

persons from all over India. The Minister had seen Me and I had been to his

house eight years ago but his yearning to come to this village and to this

Prashanthi Nilayam has materialized only today. Even today, the opening of the

school building is just an excuse, which he has utilized to come to Me. He has

hastened straight from the East Godavari District to fulfill this programme and

satisfy the yearning of years. In villages, no two persons have the same

viewpoint, no two agree; this causes and promotes ill feeling,

misunderstanding, pride, envy, hatred between individuals: but, I am telling

this not only to the

people of this village but the people who have come here from a thousand

villages, remember. When it is a question which interests the entire village,

do not thrust forward your little prejudices, your particular hatreds, but

think only of the common good, the common welfare. Then, all your personal

likes and dislikes should be forgotten. I am. also known as Puttaparthi Baba;

therefore, you in this village have every right to come to Me, all of you,

whenever you desire to do any good to the village. This day, when the Village

Elementary School is moving into the new spacious well-ventilated terraced

building of its own, is indeed a great day in the annals of this village. It is

a day which starts a new era; when education will grow and will result in

virtue, humility and peace.

India has Dharma on its side

I know that your hearts are filled with other thoughts---the thoughts of pushing

back the Chinese from the land they have invaded and occupied, of sympathy to

the families of the soldiers who have been killed and wounded. Minister Chenna

Reddy also referred to them feelingly. They fought for their country to keep

the enemy away. It is your first duty to pray for the dead, and to pray for the

happy and victorious return from the battlefield of the gallant fighters. It is

your duty also to search for your own faults and failings and to correct them

soon. You have also to discover and develop all your talents and become strong,

self-reliant, full-grown Indians, in order to save your country and its culture.

Above all, you must get firmly entrenched in faith; faith in the ultimate

victory of Truth and Love, of Justice and Fortitude. You have not tried it,

and so you are unaware of the potentialities of faith.

During the Mahabharata War also, people had the faith that "Where Krishna was,

there victory was certain," for Krishna will always be on the side of Truth and

Truth cannot bring defeat. India has Dharma on its side; that is to say, Krishna

on its side, and so the paeans of victory will sound soon---if they have not

already sounded! The Chinese can do India no harm; for we are not wanting in

the strength of Virtues, in Truth, in Justice, in Love, in Forbearance. These

are the real arms, the real ammunition, and the armaments.

When Ashwathaama slay entered the Pandava camp and blinded by hate, slaughtered

the sleeping children of Draupadi, she scorned to wreak vengeance on the

maddened culprit, for he was the son of the Guru of the Pandavas and as worthy

of reverence as the Guru himself. That is the nobility that stirred the hearts

of mothers in this country. That is no weakness; it toughens the fibre; it

demoralizes the enemy, who is rendered a coward by the fear that haunts him and

the hesitation and doubt about victory that dog his steps.

Learning is of no use if not put into practice.

So, be brave and confident. My Birthday Festival will not be marred by any

dispiriting news; it will be made happier for you by quite positive cheerful

news, I am sure. I must now speak about the school which has this function

today. Minister Chenna Reddy is also Minister for Planning and he spoke about

the plan for education also. No amount of planning or even carrying out the

plan will help, if the things learnt in schools are not put .into practice. For

example, there are lessons on health and hygiene in the textbooks of even the

primary classes.

They are all learnt by rote and repeated, but examine how far they are

practiced. Look at the village roads, the village well, the village home, the

village children and tell Me whether fifty or sixty years of teaching the rules

of health and hygiene has had any effect! If even these matters involving life

and well-being are neglected, I need not tell you that other subjects which are

laboriously taught in schools produce even less effect.

What profit is it for the children to know the length of the Mississippi River

or the height of Vesuvius? Why load them with information they may never

require? On the other hand, give them the tonic to strengthen that spirit---the

tonic of the Repetition of the Name of the Lord, the tonic of meditating on the

glory of God, in the silence of the heart. Formerly, children were learning

Rama Nama and the Aksharamaala (Garland of letters) together; “Suddha brahma

Paraathpara Rama,” they used to read and write. Now, they sing, "Ding dong

bell; Puss is in the well." This type of silly meaningless jargon is spreading

everywhere likes a poisonous infection destroying the seeds of peace and joy.

The doctor does not give any medicine that comes to his hand: he diagnoses the

illness, studies the patient, his background, his ancestry, his habits, his

food, his likes, his dislikes. Then he prescribes the appropriate remedy. For

the illness of greed, hurry, hatred and discontent that this country, along

with the rest of the world, is afflicted with now, the planners of education

must discover the correct remedy. Then they will find that the first few steps

in spiritual discipline must be taught even in childhood. Man has the springs

of joy and peace in his heart, even as a child. Cultivate them, give them the

fullest freedom to gush forth and fertilize all fields of activity---that is

the real purpose of education.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 23-11-1962

50. TINY TRACE OF EGO

SHAANTHASWAR UUPULAARA (Embodiments of Peace)! I am addressing you thus today;

perhaps I should have said, "Athi Shaanthaswaruupulaara!" for you have shown

not only Shanthi but Athi Shanthi (extreme calmness), not mere ordinary

forbearance. You have been squatting on the floor for-nearly three hours.

Perhaps you yourselves have not realised it because Bulusu Appanna Shaasthry's

learned discourse on the Geetha and Kalluri Veerabhadra Shaasthry's interesting

discourse on the Bhagavatham entranced you greatly. I realise that you also want

Me to speak. These florists from Bangalore, devotees since many years---why,

since twenty years, I should say---are preparing a floral Joola (swing)

insisting that I should sit on it and give audience to all. I have given them

My word that I shall not disappoint them. So I shall be

very brief.

You will have known by now that the Chinese, of their own accord, prompted by

the mysterious working of a Higher Power withdrew from the advance lines they

held on the night of 22nd and, as I said, My Birthday was celebrated in an

atmosphere of joy. Some unseen force caught them by the neck and hurled them

back. Man is impelled forward in aggressive warfare by the Aasuri Shakti

(demoniac power) or Greed and Lust but he is compelled to retrace his steps by

God, by the Dhaivi Shakti (Divine Power).

Appanna Shastri is the doyen among the scholars of the Geetha. The Geetha has as

many commentaries written on it as there are hairs on My Head! Yellappa's

commentary attempts to distort the Geetha into a Yellappa Geetha while

Mallappa, by his commentary, proves that it is a Mallappa Geetha and nothing

else. Everyone forgets it is "Bhagavadh" Geetha, the Geetha that Krishna taught

and Arjuna learnt. What was Arjuna's condition and how did Krishna cure it?---

that question has been tackled only by the commentary of Sankaracharya.

Role of Brahmin in the society

Appanna Shastri said that the Avatar comes for Dharmasthaapana (establishment of

Righteousness) and fostering and safeguarding the Brahmin achieve that. A

Brahmin is one who is installed in Brahma Tathva (essential nature of Supreme

Being), who has realised Brahma Sathyam---that Brahman is the Truth and no

other---or at least one who is keenly following the discipline prescribed for

attaining that knowledge. The Brahmin is the instrument by which society has to

excavate the treasure of Brahmajnaana (Sacred knowledge of the Absolute

Reality). Some individual instruments have become blunt and unfit, Why? Many

have lent themselves to other purposes and so rendered themselves inadequate

for the task. But there is no doubt that the instrument can be fashioned again

out of the same metal; the Brahmin can, even now,

restore faith and morality by devoting himself to the original function for

which he was designed by the founders of Sanathana Dharma (Eternal Religion).

So long as that possibility is there, do not ridicule or condemn the Brahmin.

Ridiculing him is but ridiculing God and the Vedas to which he is the

accredited signpost.

Correct your vision, remove your delusion

All this creation and all this history is His Leela or rather, Himself, Brahma

Sathyam, also, Jagath Sathyam. Only Jagath (world) is 'relatively real' until

the distinction between Brahman and Jagath disappears and then even Jagath is

seen to be Brahman, felt as Brahman, known as Brahmam. Then you know Sarvam

Brahma Mayam, (All is full of Supreme Being). To be more correct, there is no

separate sarvam (all) to be recognised as mayam (full of). Brahman alone is,

one without a second, Adhwitheeyam, Ekam, Nithyam, Vimalam, Achalam (Non-dual,

Single Eternal, Pure and Immovable). Who created all this variety from that

Ekam (Single)? The answer is, there is no variety at all; so the question makes

no sense. No person or force or urge or concatenation

of circumstances or accident produced this multiplicity.

There is no multiplicity! The One remains as One. You mistake it as many; the

fault is in you; correct your vision, remove your delusion, Brahman (Supreme

Reality) did not change into Prakriti (relative world); the rope does not

change into a snake. Only you mistook it to be a snake. Brahman is Brahman for

ever and ever; your ignorance of this fact makes you see it as Prakriti. The

world stands on one leg, delusion. Cut down that leg and it falls.

You experience the disappearance of this variety, this multiplicity, this

Prakriti, this world based on delusion, every day but you do not hold on to

that experience. That is the tragedy! When you are asleep, what happens to your

world? In what are all your manifoldness subsumed? What is the source of the

feeling of joy, which sound sleep, brings? Sleep keeps a tiny trace of the ego

as a memento of the world and so, when awake, you are the same deluded

individual, pestered by creatures of your own fantasies! That is why I very

often tell you not to identify even Me with this particular physical build-up.

But you do not understand. You call Me by One Name only and believe I have One

Form only. Remember, there is no Name I do .not bear, there is no Form which is

not Mine.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 24-11-1962

If your thoughts centre round the body you will have worries about pains and

illnesses, real or imaginary; if they are centered on riches, you will be

worried about profit and loss, tax and exemption& investment and insolvency; if

they roam round fame, then you are bound to suffer from the ups an downs of

scandal, calumny and jealously. So, let them centre round the seat of power and

love which deserve willing submission and let your whole being surrender to it.

Then, you will be happy forever. - Sathya Sai Baba

51. SPROUTS OF FAITH

VEERABHADHRA Shastri described very realistically the childhood pranks of

Krishna and explained their significance. That has refreshed you, as I can see,

for you felt them and experienced them. Rama is the embodiment of Truth and

Dharma and so there is sternness about Him but Krishna is Prema and His story

confers Ananda quickly and spontaneously to one and all. The Prema in the human

heart responds to the call of that Divine Prema; it surges up and overflows.

Krishna came with the Yogashakthi (Balarama), as His Brother and Maayaashakthi

(Maya) as His Sister. That is how Mahaashakthi (Supreme Power) gets born.

Devaki, the mother, could not take in the splendor of the divine form, with all

its inseparable glory, and so the child had to be transferred at His own request

to Yasoda, who had prayed that she should be favored with the privilege of being

the foster-mother of the Lord! Sparshan or contact with the Divine is said to

confer the boon of liberation from the bonds of karma; so, when the infant

Krishna was taken by Vaasudheva's hands, the chain that bound them fell off;

the bolts flew from the prison door, the locks opened of themselves; when he

moved on towards the river Yamuna, the floods parted in front of him.

Love of the Gopis is beyond physical awareness

In the divine story, you will observe one special fact; no incident is

unconnected with the rest, no happening is without significance. For example,

Parashuraama exterminated the Kshatriya rulers of his time by systematic

campaigns directed against each. How then, why then, did Dasaratha and Janaka

survive? The truth of the matter is: Parashuraama made two exceptions under

which his victims could save themselves and survive. Only these two survivors

knew this secret. He had resolved within himself that he would not kill a

bridegroom or a person engaged in a Yaga So, whenever Parashuraama reached the

frontiers of their kingdoms and was on the point of crossing them, Janaka got

himself initiated in preparation for a Yaga (ceremonial sacrifice in which

oblations are presented) and Dasaratha fitted himself out as a bridegroom about

to

wed another princess. Of course, this was according to the Divine Plan, for

Dasaratha had to live to get Dasaratha and Janaka had to discover Janaki.

The Love of the Gopis (milk-maids of Dwarka) about which so much philosophical

speculation and analysis was made before you is, let Me tell you, Sahaja

Prema---the genuine Prema that is beyond physical awareness, that is unaffected

by praise or blame. It is not like the thin filament of oil floating on water,

which comes off on the finger when it is touched. It is like the lotus stalk,

which penetrates deep down through all the layers of water into the soil

underneath; but the leaf floats above, unaffected by the water, which gives it

the essential environment. Man should struggle similarly to rise above the

sensory world, which is his inevitable environment; the sensory world tempts

you to strive for this triviality and that, but like the Gopis, you should

discard the hankering and fix your eye on the vitally precious

fountain of joy. The Gopis had no other goal, no other ideal, no other wish. It

was a surrender of the self---complete unquestioned, unwavering.

Sai will not tolerate hatred among devotees

Let me tell you of a devotee, a woman in a small Maharashtra village who lived

in the last century. She went through even the little details of life in this

spirit of dedication. Walking was to her a pilgrimage; talking was Japam. Even

when she threw off a ball of cow dung after applying it over the floor used by

her husband to keep his dining plate while eating, she said and felt

Krishnaarpanam---"May this be an offering to Krishna!" Her thapas (penance) was

so sincere that the cow dung reached Krishna and struck to Krishna's idol in the

village temple every day!

The priest saw the mysterious defilement; he was amazed, he was lost in terror;

he cursed himself that he had lived to see that ignominy daily, about noon, the

idol being defiled by the same size of cow dung. He hung his head in shame. As

he walked along, keeping the disturbing phenomenon all to himself, one day, he

heard that particular lady exclaim, "Krishnaarpanam" as she, like many other

housewives, threw the tell-tale cow dung ball. He suspected; he noted the

timings, the quantity, the material etc., until he was convinced that she was

the culprit for the disfiguration of Krishna, the defilement of that

liveliness. Then he beat her so severely that her arm that threw the dung was

fractured.

When he returned triumphantly to the temple expecting to be profusely blessed by

the Lord for punishing the wicked woman, he was shocked to find Krishna's right

arm fractured and bleeding, exactly like the saint's arm! The poor fellow wept

in his agony and said, "I beat her only through love of you; she spoilt your

charm, Oh Lord." Krishna replied, "You must love all whom I love, remember."

Here too, I want that you should so behave, or at least love yourself, that is

to say, love your own better self and 'best interests.' I will not tolerate

envy or malice or hatred among devotees; nor will I allow you to hate

yourselves or think of yourselves as mean or weak.

Disturbing the faith of others is treason

A word to the men who are gathered here: you must live up to the glory of your

inner purity and strength. You come from distant places at great expense but

you bring with you all your habits and prejudices, your proclivities and

preferences; without making any effort to purify them, to suit the holy place,

which you have sought. Here too you seek and secure the company to which you

are accustomed; namely, the company of the factious, the envious and the

worldly. Come to Me with mean desires and you will be disappointed! I will not

worry if you do not come again. If you destroy or disturb the faith of others

or the devotion of others, it is ingratitude, treason; it is like pouring

glowing cinders on a heap of flowers.

If the child gives up its mother, how can it grow? Keep attached to God, so that

you may grow. Do not clip off the sprouts of faith in your heart or in the

hearts of others. It is that Faith that gives poignancy to the yearning for God

and which wins ready response. Raamamuurthy, who is here, called out "Swami" in

that poignant sincerity when his wife's saree was in flames; she was too

frightened to call Me. That call took Me to Aukiripalli and, though only a

quarter of the sari was left unburnt, she was saved.

Cheats who trade on the faith of devotees

Talking of faith, I must issue a warning. Many people are collecting money in

various places using My Name for various purposes like arranging receptions,

building temples, doing Pooja etc. That is unauthorized and against My wish and

command. Do not yield to such requests and encourage this practice, which I

condemn. Then there is another set of people who trade on your faith. They

advertise that I have 'possessed' them; that I am 'talking' through a medium or

a stove (!) or some other thing. Treat all such people and their agents or

brokers as you treat cheats; if you do not treat them so, then you are also

accomplices in the cheating process.

There are others who gather groups of followers and admirers and collect money

exhibiting mine idol or image that has been 'given' by Me or advertising mine

other sign of My Grace. Some of them even declare "Baba sent me to you to take

from you some money" or "Baba has given me this" or "Baba blessed me specially

thus and thus" and then ask for your help or your praise or your purse! I ask

you to chastise all thee types of men and turn them away---whoever they are.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 25-11-1962

52. GRIEF AND GOD

MANY things have happened here since 3-30 p.m. when you all gathered. The

programme began with the Burra Katha (folk-tale) on Parvati kalyaanam

(marriage) by the girl students of the Saadhuvamma High School and it ended

with the kalyaanam of Krishna, described by Veerabhadra Shastri. In the middle,

Ganapathi Shastri told you of the origin and meaning of the Sanathana (ancient)

social order, as laid down in the Vedas and the Sasthras. Out of the many

plausible interpretations of the Sasthras, you are prone to attach yourselves

to the one that pleases your own prejudices; so it is essential to hear such

Pundits who know the authentic meaning and who will not deviate from it in

order to make the exposition popular. Listening to such talks should not end

with shravanam (listening) only; follow it

up with mananam (rumination, digestion).

So also, with the talk on the Bhagavatham, cogitate over it within the four

walls of your Pooja room, sitting before the shrine and offering ritual

worship. 'Do not treat the Bhagavatham as a chapter of ancient. "History; you

can experience the thrill now, today, for ever. The Bhagavatham is for all

time, for the elevation of human emotions in all climes and places. The Vedhas

with their meaningful rites and their deeply significant philosophy are

valuable for all time. Once, someone decided to worship the greatest. He fixed

upon 'the earth, but the sea erodes the earth; the sea too is not so great

since Sage Agastya drank it up; Agastya is now a tiny star in the broad sky;

but the sky was just enough for one foot of the Thrivikrama form of the Lord;

'and the Lord is enshrined in the heart of Bhakta (devotee). So he concluded

that the Bhakta was the greatest of them all!

Castes have no superiority or inferiority

Bhakti (devotion) knows no caste; it saves all, ennobles all. Castes have no

superiority or inferiority according to the Vedas. A sugar doll is all sugar.

The hymn. of Purusha Suuktha speaks of the four castes having come from four

parts of His Body. The meaning is that all are equally highborn and equally

important. The mouth cannot walk nor can the feet talk. It is the voice that is

obeyed and the arm that protects. Well, all those who felt (and follow the

feeling) that fighting is their righteous duty are Kshatriyas; all those who

feel it their duty to study the Vedas and the Sasthras are Brahmins---not those

who feel it as their right!

Yesterday, I spoke a few words specially to the men. Today I shall speak to the

women. Many of you become so desperate and dejected that you bemoan your birth

and welcome death. This is very wrong. You cannot flee from your responsibility

in the middle of your allotted task. It is a sign of weakness and cowardice.

After all, just think for a moment whether the rich are happy, the strong are

happy, the highly educated are happy or the clever are happy. No one is happy

you will find. If you must be happy, one of two things must happen. All your

desires must be fulfilled, or you should not have any desire. Of these, the

reduction of desire is the easier path.

Become more steady in spiritual discipline

Take the troubles that come to you as tests and opportunities to learn

non-attachment. It is the hot summer that sends you to air-conditioning. Grief

sends you to God. When a child dies, ask yourself the question, "Is it for my

sake that he was born?" He had his own destiny to fulfill, his own history to

work out. Gautama Buddha's father was so overcome with grief when he saw his

son with a begging bowl in the street that he told him thus: "Every one of my

ancestors was a King: what misfortune is this that a beggar was born in this

line?" Buddha replied, "Every one of my ancestors had a beggar's bowl; I know

of no king in my line." The father and the son walked different paths, traveled

along divergent routes. The blood of the son when transfused may prove fatal to

the father.

Another point: you should all become more steady and regular in your Sadhana

(spiritual effort). You must curb the propensity to indulge in inane jabber and

idle curiosity. Follow the discipline laid down for the Prashanthi Nilayam and

become examples for the new comers! This applies to the men also. You will have

noticed that I do not address you as "Bhakthulaara" (dear devotees) at any time.

For, to get that name, Bhakta, you must have dedication, unwavering faith and

steady discipline.

When the Nirguna Nirakara (Attributeless and Formless) is available here and now

as Saguna Sakara (with Attributes and Form), you must use every moment to earn

His Grace. You do not realise your unique good fortune. In the years to come,

people will revere you, for you had a chance that millions could not get; they

will worship your pictures in their shrines! Live and love in such a way that

you may deserve that honour.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 26-11-1962

For Namasmarana, no expense is involved; no materials are needed; there is no

special place or time to be provided. No qualification of scholarship or caste

or sex has to be proved. When a bit of iron is rubbed to and fro on a slab of

stone, heat is generated; only, the rubbing has to be vigorous and continuous.

When you do so at intervals and with poor pressure, the iron will not get hot.

So, too, in order to get sufficient heat to melt the soft heart of the Lord, in

order to get sufficient heat to melt the soft heart of the Lord, rub the name

Ram Ram Ram Ram vigorously and unintermittently. Then, the Lord will shower His

Grace. If you devote but two minutes and a half in the morning and another two

minutes and a half in the evening the little heart will cool off twice a day

and His

heart will not melt. - Sathya Sai Baba

VOLUME II CONCLUDED

VOLUME III TO BE CONTINUED…

With Sai love from Sai brothers – ‘’

Source and Courtesy: http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume02/sss02

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